Soviet-era Gadget vs Modern Camera
當蘇聯怪器具搭上現代相機

Today I'd like to share a mod I did to one of my Russian photography equipment, the Zenit Fotosnaiper! The mod essentially adapts the trigger-shutter system to work with my Sony A7 camera, so I can take pictures by pulling the trigger on the gun stock.

Here's a picture of the 300mm Fotosnaiper lens attached to the A7 via a m42 to Sony E-mount adapter as well as the gun stock.

以下照片是 Fotosnaiper 配的 300mm 鏡頭透過轉接頭接到 Sony A7 機身上及槍托。

How I did it / 改裝步驟

First I unscrewed the top plate on the gun stock, revealing the trigger mechanism.

首先把槍托上的蓋板拆下來，露出裏頭扳機結構。

I designed 3 parts with a CAD program that attached to the triggering mechanism which I printed with a 3D printer. These parts were then wrapped in copper foil with adhesive backing, to which I soldered wires from a shutter release cable. Here you can see the 3D-printed parts as white pieces and the copper foil.

The custom parts were designed so that when the trigger is pulled slightly, it triggers the half-pressed shutter action on the camera, which is usually set to auto-exposure and auto-focus, and in-camera body stabilization (which I don't have on the A7). When the trigger is pulled all the way, the red wire shorts to common and triggers the shutter.